Inside The Mouse Castle 09-28-2015 - Season of the Force, Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar and the Death of Duffy

By Tim Callaway

Star Wars Launch Bay

The Season of the Force is coming to Disneyland November 16th and we have all the details in this week's episode of Inside The Mouse Castle.

As excitement builds for Star Wars: The Force Awakens in December and the January groundbreaking of Star Wars Land, the Star Wars Launch Bay will open in the old Innoventions building in Tomorrowland. There will be plenty to preview of the upcoming Star Wars films and eventually, we assume, the park expansion. Also in the Launch Bay will be the obligatory Star Wars character meet-and-greets. Next door, a new Space Mountain overlay, Hyperspace Mountain, will rocket guests through an X-wing Figher battle. Star Tours will get an upgrade as well, adding new show elements based on The Force Awakens.

The Force is strong with today's show. Here's what else we have:

• The Star Wars Land expansion at Disneyland means extended ride closures during construction. Everything on the Rivers of America including the Mark Twain, Columbia and Tom Sawyer will be shut down for more than a year beginning January 11, 2016. Likewise Fantasmic! and the Disneyland Railroad. While much of the Internet is speculating on what the new train and river configurations will be when the dust settles and Star Wars emerges, Anthony and I offer our short-term take on what no train, no Big Thunder Trail and no Fantasmic! will do to crowd control. We don't think it will be pretty.
• Disneyland is extending its Diamond Celebration until September 2016, which means the resort will turn 61 while it's still turning 60. 
• Websites that offer dining reservation services at Disney resorts (usually for a fee) are coming under fire by Disney. Disney Dining Buddy is the first site to suspend activity after receiving a "request" by the Mouse to stop.

Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar

• The Indiana Jones-referential Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar has opened at Walt Disney World's Disney Springs (no longer Downtown Disney). We want to go there.
• Garrett Hedlund (Sam Flynn in Tron: Legacy) says a Tron 3 film may not be dead on the grid after all. Maybe.
• Duffy the Disney Bear is bidding farewell to Epcot. This pleases us. Outside of Japan, he never was a thing.

Enjoy!

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Inside The Mouse Castle 06-08-2015 - Silly Symphonies and Broadway at the D23 Expo, 'Walt Disney' on PBS

By Tim Callaway

Disney's first color cartoon, the Silly Symphony Flowers and Trees.

After a week off, Anthony and I are back Inside The Mouse Castle. This week, we start off with a couple of musical extravaganzas at the upcoming D23 Expo in Anaheim. Disney in Concert: A Silly Symphony Celebration will screen some of Walt Disney's great musical cartoons of the 1920s and '30s accompanied by a 32-piece orchestra. The massive fan gathering will also welcome Disney on Broadway's The Originals, celebrating Disney's great theatrical shows and starring Ashley Brown (Mary Poppins), James Monroe Iglehart (Aladdin) and Josh Strickland (Tarzan).

Anthony and I also imagine a world where Nicolas Cage is in every Disney animation-to-live-action movie adaptation, but I digress.

• Disney will produce a live action film based on the "Night on Bald Mountain" sequence from Fantasia. Nicolas Cage as Chernabog, am I right?
• Disney has wiped Tron 3 off the grid. There will be no follow-up film to Tron: Legacy and that makes the users sad.
• Would you be willing to pay more to go to Disneyland during peak summer and holiday seasons? How about paying less to go in the off-season? A recent survey of Annual Passholders had social media buzzing about (gasp!) another ticket price increase.

Marvel's Ant-Man.

• DCA guests can catch a preview of Marvel's Ant-Man, starring Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas, beginning June 19th in the...wait for it...Bug's Life Theater. Didn't see that coming, did you?
• A recent New York Times article has people questioning hiring practices at Walt Disney World. Two hundred fifty tech workers were laid off last October, but not before many of them trained their replacements: Indian immigrants working in the U.S. on temporary visas.
• Another WDW labor issue: can cast members in character costumes at the parks share their exploits on social media? Disney says no because it ruins the magic. We agree.
• Walt Disney Company CFO Jay Rasulo announced his resignation effective at the end of this month. He was passed over for the COO's position earlier this year in favor of Tom Staggs, who is now the heir apparent to replace Bob Iger when he retires. Publicly, Rasulo's departure from Disney will be amicable. We suspect he won't be unemployed long. "Almost" good enough to run the Walt Disney Company isn't a bad thing to have on your resume.
• We're very excited about the upcoming documentary, Walt Disney, scheduled to run on PBS September 14-15 as part of their American Experience series.
• Tangled, a new animated series based on the movie, is coming to the Disney Channel in 2017. I've already started obsessing on Rapunzel's hair length. It appears long in concept art for the series, but since it takes place after the movie, shouldn't it be short? Yes, I know hair grows. Don't start with me.
• The Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection will be out on Digital HD August 11th followed by a Blu-ray release on August 18th. The best of the bunch in this 12-film set are Paperman, Get a Horse!, Lorenzo and The Little Matchgirl. Get it.
  

• Disney's new line of high-tech, interactive toys looks intriguing. Playmation uses wearable tech, motion sensors and assorted action figures to create a toys-to-life experience that kids (and imaginative adults) can enjoy indoors or out. Go on adventures with the Avengers or (beginning next year) use the power of the Force in the Star Wars edition. They're even working on a Frozen version (of course they are).

Enjoy!

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Inside The Mouse Castle 03-23-2015 - A Monorail on eBay, 'Captain America: Civil War' and a Mo'Ne Movie

By Tim Callaway

Anthony and I don't have enough money to buy a Walt Disney World Monorail train or a Tron light cycle replica, so instead we're arguing about Into the Woods and pineapple pizza on today's Inside The Mouse Castle.

• The front portion of a Mark IV Monorail from Walt Disney World showed up on eBay last week...then disappeared before the auction closed. Bidding was to start at $169,000 (or you could have bought the thing outright for $260,000), but the item was pulled Sunday night with no explanation. 

Tron: Legacy

• An auction that is expected to go through will be held on May 2nd and it's super cool. Get on the grid with a full-size, fully-functional replica of a Tron: Legacy light cycle. It'll only cost you $25,000-$40,000. You know you want to.
• We officially know more plot details about Captain America: Civil War and they're pretty much the plot details we knew already...but now they're official. Actually, Disney didn't make them official until the synopsis leaked to multiple news outlets. Here it is:

Following the events of Age of Ultron, the collective governments of the world pass an act designed to regulate all superhuman activity. This polarizes opinion amongst the Avengers, causing two factions to side with Iron Man or Captain America, which causes an epic battle between former allies.

• A new book about Apple and Pixar visionary Steve Jobs, Becoming Steve Jobs, is out this week and includes a fascinating and touching story involving Disney chief Bob Iger. In January 2006, just a half hour before Disney would announce its acquisition of Pixar, Jobs shared some troubling news with Iger that threatened to cancel the deal. Jobs even gave Iger an out if he wanted it. 
• Disney's CFO and senior executive VP Jay Rasulo sold $12 million in Disney stock last week. Was it just normal profit-taking or is Rasulo cashing out before leaving the Mouse? He's been working without a contract since January 31st and was recently passed over for the chief operating officer position that went to Tom Staggs.

Mo'ne Davis talks with Good Morning, America host Robin Roberts

• Mo'ne Davis made history last year by becoming the first girl ever to pitch a winning game (a shutout, no less) in the Little League World Series. Now, the Disney Channel is making a movie about her life. Throw Like Mo will be executive-produced by Debra Martin Chase and written by Sheldon Candis and Justin Wilson. Davis will act as a consultant on the film.
• Muppet Moments is a new short-form video series featuring Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie and other Muppet favorites in casual conversations with young children. It premieres on Disney Junior April 3rd and yes, it's cute.

• On Blu-ray, Digital HD and Disney Movies Anywhere this week, Into the Woods. <Hooray!>
  Coming out on May 19th, Strange Magic. <crickets>

Enjoy!

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Inside The Mouse Castle 02-09-2015 - Tom Staggs, Shanghai Disneyland and Trader Sam's Grog Grotto

By Tim Callaway

Another week, another trip to Disneyland.

Anthony and I both paid a visit to the Happiest Place on Earth last week. He zoomed in for a day trip last Wednesday. I joined our friends at MiceChat over the weekend to help celebrate their 10th anniversary.

Inside The Mouse Castle this week, we talk about our trips, why it's kind of cool to fly solo at Disneyland and Anthony's strange fascination with wayward Baymax balloons.

We also touch on these fascinating and thought provoking topics:

• Business is booming at the Walt Disney Company. They reported record first quarter revenue last week and then announced the promotion of Tom Staggs to chief operating officer, making him the heir apparent to succeed Bob Iger when he retires in 2018. 
• Our obsession to figure out a way to get to Shanghai Disneyland in 2016 continues, especially after seeing these crazy awesome pics from the resort's upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean attraction. 

• Trader Sam's Grog Grotto will open this spring at Walt Disney World's Polynesian Village Resort. Yeah, we want to get there too.
• New for Disney Infinity 2.0: Sam Flynn and Quorra from Tron: Legacy. But they're virtual characters only, and only available in the iOS version (for now).

Enjoy!

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Thirty Days of Disney Movies, Day Twenty-Two - Movie I Wish I Could Live In

Nearly 74 years of Disney and Pixar feature films have taken us to all manner of interesting places. From fairy tale castles to idyllic high schools; from quaint forest cottages to apocalyptic waste dumps. Some would be quite wonderful to live in. Others, not so much. Still, despite all those choices, I had no trouble deciding which imaginary Disney destination I'd like to go to.

I want to live on the Grid.

Seriously, what better place to get a nice apartment on the edge of town...

...catch up with old friends...

...or have a drink or two with new ones?

I could partake in challenging recreational activities...

...or even check out the local music scene.

There's nothing like attending a major sporting event...

...although, the traffic can be a bitch.

And yeah, OK, that whole derezzing thing is kind of a drag.

Still, there are plenty of reasons to want to live on the Grid.

I'll send you a postcard.

Wait, make that an e-mail instead.

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Thirty Days of Disney Movies, Day Twenty-One - Movie With My Favorite Actor

Jeff Bridges was 32 when he appeared in his first Disney film. It took him 28 years to do it again.

Tron (Bruce Boxleitner) faces off
with Clu (Jeff Bridges).

Bridges played video game geek Kevin Flynn and his digital doppelganger Clu in both Tron (1982) and Tron: Legacy (2010). For two movies where actors took the backseat to whiz-bang special effects, Bridges still managed to stand out, a credit to his gifts as an actor. Throughout his career, he's had a knack for making mediocre movies good and good movies great (see The Big Lebowski, Tucker: The Man and His Dream, and the criminally overlooked The Door in the Floor).

Neither Tron nor Tron: Legacy are great films, but they are entertaining eye candy and that's OK. That's all they were intended to be. Tron tested the limits of early computer animation and is the more groundbreaking film. Tron: Legacy, however, is the better overall movie experience, with bigger and bolder visual effects. Twenty-eight years of improved digital technology were kind to it.

You're messing with my Zen thing, man!

As far as Bridges performances, I prefer him as the cocky, goofy computer nerd of the first movie compared to the grizzled zen master he played in the second ("180 degrees from where we left him," commented Bridges). His nervous energy as he bounds up the stairs of the research lab or explains his plan to recover stolen game programs are what propel the scenes that are otherwise "off the Grid." He proves the perfect foil for bad guy David Warner, who does triple duty as the weaselly corporate drone Dillinger, his merciless program Sark, and the all-powerful Master Control Program (I'm pretty sure Warner played the villain in every movie produced in the 1980s--and then he sunk the Titanic).

In Tron: Legacy, using motion capture animation and facial mapping, Bridges played Clu as a younger version of himself. The effect is creepy, but it works. And it's still Bridges performance, even if it is digitally reproduced.

Kevin Flynn's ultimate fate in Tron: Legacy was up for grabs, leaving the door open for a new Tron installment (a script is already being worked on). Disney already put "day after" teaser videos on the Blu-ray release of Tron: Legacy, which were also briefly leaked online. Apparently, there is much speculation that "Flynn Lives."

Will Jeff Bridges be back for a third go-round on the Grid? I expect he will, and he'll again be as much fun to watch as the digital bells and whistles on screen.

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'Tron' and 'Tron: Legacy' Debut on Blu-ray April 5

Grid geeks rejoice! Disney will release Tron and Tron: Legacy on Blu-ray April 5.

The eye-popping Legacy sequel, starring Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde, will come in 2- and 4-disc Combo Packs that have both Blu-ray and standard DVD discs. The 4-pack will include Blu-ray 3D and digital copies as well. A single-disc DVD version will also be available.

The original Tron will be re-released to video in 2-disc Blu-ray Combo Packs and 2-disc DVDs.

Want the whole enchilada? You can also get a 5-disc set containing both movies.

Disney will offer their new Second Screen "interactive experience" on the Tron: Legacy Blu-rays. Synched up with your Blu-ray player, you can view exclusive bonus materials on your iPad or laptop while you watch the movie.

Also on April 5, Disney will release Tron: Legacy Reconfigured, a remix of the movie soundtrack by French music duo Daft Punk.

Related articles:
'Tron: Legacy,' a Cinematic E-Ticket Ride
The Legacy of 'Tron'

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'Toy Story 3' Gets Five Oscar Nominations; Three for 'Alice in Wonderland'

Academy Award nominations were announced this morning and Toy Story 3 led the charge for Disney, getting five nominations including Best Picture and Best Animated Feature Film. Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland received three nominations for Art Direction, Costume Design and Visual Effects.

There were a few surprises for Disney, as Tangled failed to receive a nomination for Best Animated Feature Film. With only three slots available, the Rapunzel fairy tale was bumped by the French film The Illusionist. The remaining nomination went to Dreamworks' How to Train Your Dragon. Tangled's only nomination was for Original Song ("I See the Light").

Another surprise was Tron: Legacy only scoring a single nomination for Sound Editing and getting shut out of Visual Effects and Original Score.

Disney/Pixar was also honored in the Best Animated Short Film category for the very clever Day & Night.

Toy Story 3's other nominations were for Adapted Screenplay, Sound Editing and Song ("We Belong Together"). The song was written by Randy Newman, who received his 19th Oscar nomination. Newman's only previous win was for Best Song for "If I Didn't Have You" from Monsters, Inc.

Of Toy Story 3's five nominations, director Lee Unkrich's only comment on Twitter was "Speechless."

The Oscars will be presented in Hollywood on February 27.

This year's Best Picture nominees:
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King's Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone

Complete nominations list: http://oscar.go.com/

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'Tron: Legacy' Digital Book Now on iPad

Disney Worldwide Publishing just released its newest digital book for the iPad, Tron: Legacy, The Complete Story. It's an attractive retelling of the back-to-the-Grid story with 150 pages of illustrations and over 35 stills from the movie. It also includes two tracks from the Tron: Legacy soundtrack. The most interesting feature of the app, however, is Disney's motion comics version of the story that's a comic book come-to-life with animation, narration and audio from the movie. The first episode of the motion comic is included with the app. Additional episodes will be available as free upgrades in the coming weeks.

As good as the stories and images are, though, the interface is a bit buggy. Launching a slideshow of the movie stills at times requires repeated screen taps. Likewise for the motion comic. I also experienced multiple crashes, especially when exiting back to the multimedia menu. A quick review of other Disney digital books in the App Store revealed this is not an uncommon occurrence.

Until Disney fixes the bugs, Tron Legacy: The Complete Story is not much of a deal at $8.99. It looks terrific, but appearance and functionality should never be a trade off.

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Wilde About CES

I'm at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, checking out the latest in high-tech gizmos and gadgets. CES is not only the best place to see what's new in 3D TV's, tablet computers and smartphones, it's also a great place to spot a celebrity or two. Appearing at the Blackberry booth yesterday was none other than fanboy fantasy girl Olivia Wilde, the gal pal program Quorra in Tron: Legacy. Needless to say, she drew quite a crowd of admiring tech geeks (yeah OK, I like her too) as she sat down with Lara Spencer from TV's The Insider to talk about Tron: Legacy, her upcoming film projects (Butter, Cowboys and Aliens, Now) and her humanitarian work in earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

Even though I arrived for Olivia's appearance a half hour early, the Blackberry booth was already packed with fans, so I don't have the greatest camera angle in the video below. I do have some spectacular shots of the left side of her head, though. Enjoy.

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'Tron: Legacy,' a Cinematic E-Ticket Ride

Maybe it was because I was sitting at a midnight showing with a theater full of enthusiastic TronGeeks.  Maybe it was because, after being up all day, I was wired on caffeine and sugar. Or, maybe it was simply because I refused to listen to the critics who nitpicked everything that's wrong with Tron: Legacy and didn't focus on what's right about it.

I had a blast. Tron: Legacy is one helluva fun ride.

It's not a perfect movie by any means. Yes, the characters are thinly sketched, some plot points are confusing and there's very little emotion at it's core.

I don't care. Fire up the lighted discs and the virtual winged-thingies. Let's go!

The original Tron is one of those movies that's remembered for being better than it really is. Its computer effects at the time were groundbreaking, but they were interlaced with lame dialog and a wisp of a story involving Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) trying to recover some video game programs from a corporate tight-ass (David Warner). But, in 1982, the light cycle races on the game grid Flynn gets zapped into were very cool to watch--they still are--and that nearly made up for Tron's shortcomings.

So, why even bother to make a sequel 28 years later?

Dude, have you seen what they can do with light cycle races these days?

As critical as I've been of 3D movie-making, I broke down and watched Tron: Legacy in IMAX 3D. For the first time, I can say it was genuinely worth it. IMAX was made for movies like Tron: Legacy, with larger-than-life visuals and bone-rattling sound. You get pulled smack dab in the middle of the game grid sequences, full of thrilling chases and pulse-pounding action. As I watched, out of the corner of my eye, I could see a couple of teen boys on the edge of their seats, leaning forward, absolutely riveted by what was on-screen. I'm not embarrassed to say I was doing the same.

At this point, does the story even matter? Well, yes it does, kinda. Twenty years after Kevin Flynn has mysteriously disappeared, his grown son Sam (Garrett Hedlund) stumbles upon the secret of his missing father and suddenly finds himself battling for his life in a virtual world where "Game Over" means "Game Over." Sam gets help from Quorra (sharp and sassy Olivia Wilde), a grid program who turns out to be the protege of Sam's father. Together, they do battle with Kevin's evil--and younger-looking--computer doppelganger Clu (also played by Bridges with the help of some creepy, but effective, motion-capture technology) and try to escape the world that has become Kevin's virtual prison. A lot of it won't make sense, so don't over think it. Just let the sound and light show--with an astounding electronic score by Daft Punk--wash over you. This is not a movie to analyze. This is a movie to enjoy strictly for its guilty, visceral thrills.

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Back on the Grid; 'Tron: Legacy' Premieres This Weekend

The reviews are mixed, but that's not stopping me from getting my game grid geekery on tonight and catching the midnight showing of Tron: Legacy.  I'll post my own review later, but in the meantime, here's a behind-the-scenes look at the film with some "blue carpet" comments from the cast and crew:



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The Legacy of 'Tron'

OK, let's be honest here. Tron was never a great movie.

Visually stunning for its time, yes, but not much else. The story had something to do with a video game geek (Jeff Bridges) getting back the game programs that the evil corporate hot shot (David Warner) stole from him.  The game geek hangs out with the computer geek (Bruce Boxleitner) and the lab geek (the hot chick from Caddyshack). Lame dialog, trite storyline. The game geek gets zapped into a computer grid. Complications ensue.

If Disney had made Tron ten years earlier, Kurt Russell would've starred as Kevin Flynn and Cesar Romero would've been Master Control. But, this was 1982 and computer animation was about to change everything you knew about movies. What do you remember about the first time you saw Tron? It sure as heck wasn't the story. It was all about super-cool special effects and light cycle races. Am I right?

But, 28 years later, it's still with you. And come December, if you're of a certain age, you're taking your kids--maybe even your grandkids--to geek out once again on the private lives of computer chips. And the special effects might have improved just a wee bit this time around. I took in the 23-minute preview of Tron: Legacy at Thursday's nationwide "Tron Night" presentation.  As a first impression, it did not disappoint. The movie's darker, even brooding at times, with young Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) pulled into the same computer world where his father Kevin (Bridges) apparently disappeared 20 years ago. When we discover Kevin this time, though, he seems less a prisoner of the game grid and more its sullen Zen master. For now, let's just call him the Dude in the Machine.

To get to his father, Sam must fight his way through a series of games, throwing deadly lighted discs and, oh yes, racing light cycles. He's assisted by the chirpy but mysterious Quorra (Olivia Wilde), a cross between Trinity from The Matrix and Abby from NCIS.

Even in the preview, there are story elements that don't quite make sense--like why was the phone service turned off at Flynn's Arcade 20 years ago, but not the power?--but the purpose of the whole movie is to get you on the grid, and once you're there it looks fantastic. There's a sense of realism in Tron: Legacy that simply wasn't possible in 1982. The grid looks like a real place, not a day-glow computer effect. Credit director Joseph Kosinski for using real light whenever possible, even embedded in the characters' costumes. It's makes the CG enhancements that much more realistic.

Allow me to gripe about 3D again, however. It's superfluous and doesn't improve the look of Tron: Legacy. I'll be catching the final release in 2D, thank you very much.

Tron: Legacy opens December 17. I'll be the one in line with all the rabid fanboys. We've waited 28 years for this. That's an awfully long time to wait for a sequel to a mediocre movie.

But, geez, that light cycle race was cool.

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